Garden is a Verb Someone casually strolling the paths through the Cottages at Water’s Edge or Bungalows at Crystal Glen might only consider garden as a noun, perhaps decorated with a string of adjectives like breathtaking, lush or vibrant. However, for Master Gardener Kathy Maginity and her crew, “garden” is really more of an action than a place. Maginity’s hands have been tending the soil at Crystal Mountain for 27 years, during which she has watched the resort’s award-winning landscape take bloom. In fact, her entrance into gardening at the resort began where most people enter the grounds. “We planted our first perennials at the front entrance off M-115, and it was a huge project,” Maginity recalls. “One person slept there all the first night just to keep watch.” Much like the gardens themselves, the job has only grown in scope. One gardener can spend all day hand-watering the plants around the village, as they do three times per week. Drip irrigation is also used for more efficient use of water in the beds, and the waterpreservation strategy is furthered around Crystal Spa
with plants native to Michigan and the northeast — part of its LEED-certification. “It’s constantly changing, we’re constantly moving things around,” Maginity says. “Something that doesn’t work in one spot might do really well in another; you just have to try different things.” The work begins almost as soon as the snow melts from the slopes in April. By the time the kids are getting out of school for the summer, Kathy and her eight-person crew will have planted approximately 6,700 annuals around the village. After nurturing the gardens all summer long, they’ll round out the season by planting 5,300 bulbs by the end of October. Their dedication paired with the exquisite designs of Landscape Architect Sandy Clinton and Master Planner Mark Johnson has helped the Cottages and Bungalows earn national recognition from the Perennial Plant Association and American Society of Landscape Architects. Kathy does take a break every week from mid-June to late-August for another verb: Tour—as in showing off the gardens to guests. Be sure to visit crystalmountain.com for this summer’s tour schedule. CRYSTALMOUNTAIN.COM | MOUNTAIN LIFE | SUMMER 2018
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